Be Ye Perfect

When confronted with the question of perfection Christians continue to explain that humans cannot be perfect. Is that the final answer or is there more to this subject that we don’t want to talk about? Jesus was perfect in the eyes of God when He said; But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. Matt 5:48 (NLT) Every Christian wants to be at peace with Jesus Christ who loves us and is our Savior so we should be concerned about his command to be perfect. When we look up the word “perfect” that Jesus used, it means mature or completed. We usually look around at other church people and say “well, other people are not completely mature”. This assumes that we are more mature than others are but we will let that one slide right now. The verse does not say we are to insist that other people be mature but it says “we” are to be perfect or complete. Jesus knew humans are not perfect yet He was advocating that we become perfect. There must be meaning to the words given by the Son of God. The Scriptures always explain themselves if we have an open mind to the Spirit’s teaching.

God had a plan before the earth was created therefore our perfection must have originally been part of His plan. One time Paul said; Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom… the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God —his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. 1 Cor 2:6-7 (NLT) We see here that our perfection begins with understanding the mysterious plan of God. This plan was made for our “ultimate glory”. Glory refers to the purpose of our maturity. It is obvious that we are to walk in this plan until we reach perfection or Glory. Spiritual learning must be primary in a Christian life. The Bible says; This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Eph 4:13 (NLT) Mature is the same word “perfect” that Jesus used in His command. We also see that Jesus is the standard for us.

Our faith is what leads us throughout God’s plan for life. When believers pray for one another they should ask the Lord to make all God’s family perfect. Scripture says; He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. Col 4:12 (NLT) The will of God is His plan. Our perfection lies in our following the will/plan of our Master. Our perfection is not our ideas about good or bad, our completion is found in our desire to fulfill the plan/will of our God. Everything that has ever happened to us will be used by God to fulfill his plan which is our perfection. Maturity is about each of us moving forward as seen here; So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding… And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding. Heb 6:1-3 (NLT) There are many reasons why people don’t want to move forward in the Lord. Unfortunately, the result is the same, they have refused to become perfect.

It is clear in the Scriptures that understanding is attained by our actions. Serving God is the place to find knowledge and perfection. Paul said; We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. Col 1:9-10 (NLT) Believing and serving God includes some effort on our part. We must train our will to desire God more than anything else. For example, think about the possibility of today being our best spiritual day ever or believe that we will not sin today. Decide to surrender to anything the Spirit asks us to do, anything at all. Continually talk to God during the day while remembering to quietly listen for the answer. Refuse to do something that our flesh wants to do immediately in order to force ourselves to seek God’s will. Have faith that loving God and others will become our life continually. Finally, don’t ever give up because it may take some time before our prayers are answered in some unusual way by the Lord. There is a different life waiting for us.

Many Christians have developed habits of laziness. If we are to be perfect or mature, as Jesus asked of us, we need to ask for help to overcome. The Spirit living in side of us has all the power we will ever need. Paul knew this when he made this statement; I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Phil 3:12-14 (NLT) Paul could not have said this if he did not believe sincerely in the power of the Spirit to make it happen in his life. We should all be pressing forward to become everything that is possible in our godly life. We need to do what we already know to do. This is a good place to begin our growth in the perfect life. Believe--- that we can live a higher standard and the Lord can make it happen. Our best day in the Lord HAS NOT HAPPENED YET.